Cycling
Vingegaard back on the bike: hoping to take part in the Tour
Training outside on the bike for the first time again: Jonas Vingegaard. photo
© Alberto Gardin/Zuma Press/dpa
At the beginning of April, Jonas Vingegaard fell badly and ended up in intensive care. A month later, the Dane is training again and wants to ride the Tour de France.
Jonas Vingegaard is training on the bike again a good month after his serious fall and is hoping to take part in the Tour de France. The defending champion spoke out in a video message distributed by his Visma-Lease a bike team. “Of course I hope to be able to start on the tour,” said the 27-year-old. “We don’t yet know exactly what my form will be and how my recovery will continue, but I will do everything I can to be in good form.”
Vingegaard, who moved to the Swiss canton of Ticino last year, was now training outside on the bike for the first time. “It feels good and is getting better every day. But I still have to recover from a few things,” said the Dane. Vingegaard was actually scheduled to complete a high-altitude training camp for the most important cycling race in the world in May.
But his crash at the Tour of the Basque Country on April 4th ruined all his plans. Vingegaard broke a collarbone, several ribs and a finger. The biggest problem, however, was his punctured lung. Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, who were also hoping for overall victory in the Tour de France, also fell in the fall on a descent. Time trial world champion Evenepoel broke his collarbone and shoulder blade, while Roglic escaped with numerous bruises and abrasions. Both are also back on the bike.
The tour begins on June 29th in Florence. His team is still making a final decision about whether Vingegaard will take part. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of that of his great rival Tadej Pogacar last year. The Slovenian broke his scaphoid bone in the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of April and was then only able to train on the roller trainer for several weeks. In the final week of the Tour, Pogacar ran out of energy and Vingegaard won the race in the time trial and on the queen stage to Courchevel.